Mattel collaborated with leading diabetes organization Breakthrough T1D to design the first Barbie doll with Type 1 diabetes.

Meet the First Barbie With Type 1 Diabetes. Her Colorful Accessories Showcase the Tools People Use to Treat the Chronic Disease

The new doll boasts a pink continuous glucose monitor to track blood sugar levels and a pink insulin pump

The Smithsonian’s own Etch A Sketch, acquired in 2011, is displayed as a cultural artifact—a symbol of a toy that has shaped generations.

How the Etch A Sketch Etched Itself Into Pop Culture

Sixty-five years after it first hit store shelves, the iconic, red-framed drawing toy continues to enchant kids, artists, and collectors alike

In recent years, Barbie dolls have become more likely to have flat feet, new research finds.

Barbie’s Feet Have Become Less Arched Over Time, According to a New Study by Podiatrists

By the 2020s, only 40 percent of Barbie dolls were designed with permanently arched feet for wearing high heels

"Purdubik's Cube" was developed and built by undergraduate students Junpei Ota, Aden Hurd, Matthew Patrohay and Alex Berta.

This Record-Setting Robot Can Solve a Rubik’s Cube Faster Than You Can Blink

Designed by a group of undergraduate students at Purdue University, the robot completes the puzzle in 0.103 seconds

The New Jersey Morning Call said Billy Possum had “a head that is likely to give a baby [a] nightmare.”

How a Stuffed Animal Named Billy Possum Tried—and Failed—to Replace the Teddy Bear as America’s National Toy

In 1909, wealthy widow Susie W. Allgood marketed a plush marsupial inspired by President William Howard Taft. But children thought the toy looked “too much like a rat,” and it sold poorly

Though Roosevelt reportedly disliked the nickname “Teddy,” he had a soft spot for his namesake toy, bringing it to official White House functions and displaying it as part of his campaign.  

On This Day in History

Discover How President Theodore Roosevelt Inspired the World’s First Teddy Bear, Which Went on Sale on This Day in 1903

The unlikely origin story of the beloved children’s toy involves a hunting expedition in Onward, Mississippi, and a president who wanted to be a good sportsman

A group of Englishmen toss Frisbees in 1966.

On This Day in History

An American Toy Company Produced the World’s First Frisbees, Beloved by Humans and Dogs, on This Day in 1957

The flying disc had humble beginnings but has since become an international phenomenon

The weeklong exhibition showcases items submitted by members of the public.

The Museum of Bad Gifts Is a Celebration of Outlandish Objects, From Ceramic Clowns to Cat Nail Clippings

Presented like pieces of fine art, the peculiar presents are mounted on the walls of a gallery in Toronto. Many of them will ultimately be sold at auction

The products range from programmable rovers to books that introduce the terminology of robotics and circuitry to childen.

Engineers Choose the Ten Best STEM Toys to Gift in 2024

Creative circuitry and rolling robots make up this year’s top toys for teaching kids to love science, technology, engineering and math

This tiny Roman gladiator figurine used to be the handle on a folding knife.

Cool Finds

Ancient Roman Gladiators Were Huge Celebrities Who Even Had Their Own Merch

A tiny gladiator figurine was used as a handle on a 2,000-year-old copper folding knife found in an English river, suggesting that popular fascination with the ancient fighters reached the edges of the empire

If a reader stared at one of Spectropia’s illustrations under a strong light source for about 20 seconds and then gazed at a blank wall in a darkened room, a version of that image in inverted colors appeared.

This 19th-Century ‘Toy Book’ Used Science to Prove That Ghosts Were Simply an Illusion

“Spectropia” demystified the techniques used by mediums who claimed they could speak to the dead, revealing the “absurd follies of Spiritualism”

The theme of this year's creepy doll contest at the History Center of Olmsted County is "Circus After Dark."

The Creepy Doll Contest Is Back—and It’s Time to Cast Your Vote for the Most Terrifying Toy

Step right up and see the spooky circus dolls—from creepy clowns to frightening fortune-tellers—in a Minnesota museum’s vintage toy collection

Reserachers believe Viking children once played with this animal figurine.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Iceland Can’t Agree Which Animal This Mysterious Viking-Era Toy Depicts

The tenth-century stone figurine, alternatively identified as a pig, a bear or a dog, sheds light on the lives of long-ago Norse children

Artist Lily Hevesh's 50-by-50-foot domino display at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

Watch 100,000 Dominoes Topple to the Ground in a Dazzling Eight-Minute Display

Artist Lily Hevesh spent ten days creating the elaborate installation at the National Building Museum

Barbies from the "Inspiring Women" collection, including dolls representing British model Adwoa Aboah and U.S. tennis player Billie Jean King

Travel Through Barbieland at London’s Design Museum

A new exhibition traces the evolution of one of the world’s most famous dolls over six decades

A new documentary about the creation of Black Barbie is now streaming on Netflix.

How the First Black Barbie Was Born

A new documentary tells the story of Black Barbie, and why she has meant so much to so many

“When I was making it, people laughed at me a good deal,” Charles F. Ritchel later said. “But so they did at Noah when he built the ark.”

Untold Stories of American History

Twenty-Five Years Before the Wright Brothers Took to the Skies, This Flying Machine Captivated America

First exhibited in 1878, Charles F. Ritchel’s dirigible was about as wacky, dangerous and impractical as any airship ever launched

The rocket-firing Boba Fett action figure was supposed to be a giveaway. But executives at American toy company Kenner later realized the missile was a choking hazard.

This Boba Fett Figure Is Now the Most Valuable Vintage Toy in the World

Created in 1979, the rare missile-firing figurine has become a “mythic icon” among collectors

Lego enthusiasts can now build their own Notre-Dame Cathedral, complete with rose windows and the iconic spire.

The Paris Olympics

Builders Haven’t Finished Reconstructing Notre-Dame Cathedral—But Lego Fans Can

Lego is selling a 4,383-piece model of the historic structure ahead of the upcoming Paris Olympics

Venus Williams is getting her own Barbie doll for a new Mattel campaign to celebrate women in sports. 

The Paris Olympics

Tennis Icon Venus Williams Scores Her Own Barbie Doll

The plastic (and fantastic) version of Williams is one of nine new Mattel dolls celebrating female athletes

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